Opening Up with thuy
Photo credit: Yising Kao
Breaking the stigma of mental health in the Asian community, thuy joins us to open up about her struggles with social media virality, anxiety, and expressing emotions. Despite the consistent push and pull of hate on the internet, thuy can turn the other cheek and lean on her friends to remind her of who she is. As she is about to hit the road on a European and UK tour in October, we gained insight into who she is and why she is a great role model for her fans.
Social Media Virality
Even though thuy knows the ins and outs of social media and is chronically online, she never expected the virality of her social media channels. She has amassed over 16.5 million likes on TikTok alone, with a recent video from one of her shows sitting at 13.8 million views. Only positive things to come with the recognition, but she explained that it has been quite the rollercoaster of emotions since her music content took off. “It’s just an outpour of comments that I did not ask for. When people see things that go far, they just ‘un-filter’ themselves and say what they want,” she said. Although grateful, it has unlocked a newfound feeling of anxiety that she’s never felt before. All of the comments and messages became extremely overstimulating. “I just want to turn it off sometimes, but I understand that it’s my job,” she explained. “It can be toxic. You get those occasional things that will hurt your feelings.”
When thuy started to see the same hate comments piling up, they affected her perception of reality. Luckily, she has a strong group of loved ones to help remind her of who she is and what she is worthy of. “It’s really difficult to navigate sometimes if you don’t have a support system behind you,” she stated. “Thankfully, I do have people who love me and tell me ‘don’t listen to what they’re saying.’” Besides relying on her support system, her biggest way of dealing with these new anxieties is to let it be and take it day by day. This is definitely easier said than done, but thuy is still learning, just like the rest of us.
The love-hate relationship with social media is all worth it because of the connection with her fans that thuy has created and nurtured. With over 300K on Instagram and 500K on TikTok, she still manages all of her social media channels and answers as many fan DMs as possible. It feels important to her artistry that she stays genuine and open with the community that she has built through her music.
Photo credit: Yising Kao
Expressing Feelings
thuy first started feeling anxious after beginning her music career and her jam-packed schedule has never left room to begin therapy. The concept of opening up about her feelings has always been a distant thought because of her upbringing in a traditional Vietnamese household. “I wish I thought about that more as a kid,” she expressed referring to taking good care of her mental health. “It wasn’t something that my parents talked about a lot. Mental health isn’t something that’s talked about in the Vietnamese community.” Looking back on her childhood, she realized that she had never told her parents that she was sad or not feeling well mentally. Even though mental health is stigmatized in the Western Pacific, more than 100 million people suffer from mental health disorders in the region. thuy is aware that this is a major issue, which is why she has taken it upon herself to be brave and express her feelings openly to the general public. However, it is not always easy for her to do so with the ones closest to her. To this day, opening up to her close friends makes her a little bit uncomfortable. “I think it (her childhood trauma) manifests in my relationships that are close to me,” she exclaimed. “It’s hard for me to be vulnerable with the people around me. I don’t ever want to bring the mood down.”
It takes some time to break her walls down, which can be heard in her hit song “girls like me don’t cry.” With the lyrics, “I’m hidin’ out, so they don’t see this part of me,” it’s clear that she doesn’t want to let anybody in on her true emotions. Ironically, she is singing to millions of people around the globe about her biggest vulnerabilities. “I usually feel like I’m more vulnerable with people that aren’t as close to me which is why I make music,” she explained.
Until her schedule clears up, music will remain as thuy’s number one outlet and her personal therapy session.
After reflecting on her childhood, thuy doesn’t want her newborn nephew to experience the same emotional issues that she currently faces. She is already thinking about how she can support him emotionally as he grows. “I want him to be free and open. I want him to call me and tell me the things that he’s going through and I wanna be there for him,” she expressed. Even if it’s awkward (and it normally is), she is constantly pushing her siblings to have conversations about their mental health and emotional state.
Talking about mental health with the ones closest to you can be uncomfortable, but that is the exact reason why these conversations need to be had. thuy has shown us that the human connection is important to your growth and there is absolutely nothing wrong with relying on your inner circle to support you during tough times.
To see more from thuy, follow her on Instagram and TikTok @thuymusic or grab tickets to her tour here.
Listen to the whole interview with thuy below!
